It was heard that although the project has brought increased net profits ranging from VND 1.3 to VND6.2 million per hectare and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, challenges remain in its widespread implementation, requiring collaboration from the agricultural sector, local authorities, and relevant stakeholders.
Recently, in July 2024, the first experimental rice crop of 50 hectares was harvested according to the project’s guidelines in the Thanh An Commune of Can Tho City’s Vinh Thanh District. This successful outcome not only improved farmers’ income but also reinforced confidence in the project, said some representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the International Rice Research Institute and the Vietnam Rice Industry Association.
The rice paddy field of the above-mentioned Tien Thuan Cooperative is one of the areas where the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has implemented a pilot project in 5 localities, including Can Tho, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, and Dong Thap. Among them, Can Tho was the first locality to adopt the new rice variety and harvest in the summer-autumn crop of 2024.
After the harvest, senior expert Nguyen Van Hung from the International Rice Research Institute observed that the new paddy field had reduced the seed quantity to 60 kg per ha, equivalent to saving seed costs by VND 1.2 million a ha; plus, fertilizer costs dipped by VND0.7 million a ha while yields ranged from 6.3 to 6.5 tons/ha (compared to 5.8-6.1 tons per ha using traditional seeding methods. He also assessed economic efficiency, rice cultivation under the project increased net profits from VND1.3 to VND6.2 million a ha.
Additionally, the greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 2-6 tons of CO2 a ha compared to traditional rice planting.
According to the government’s Decree No. 62/2019/ND-CP, rice growers will be supported if they apply new varieties, advanced techniques, and new technologies in rice production. However, according to Deputy Director Tran Tan Phuong of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang Province, there are no criteria or standards to determine what constitutes a new variety, when a variety is considered new, and when it is considered old.He pointed out that a variety that is considered old in one province may be considered new in another. For example, in the pilot project in Soc Trang, is the ST25 variety new or old? Similarly, there will be concerns about new equipment, techniques, and technologies.
In addition, the management of straw in the direction of circular agriculture and low emissions as proposed by the Project also raises many problems that need to be addressed.
He suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) should tell localities to carefully calculate the rice production area when registering for the Project, and balance the scientific human resources to avoid confusion during implementation. According to the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in order to successfully implement the Project, localities necessarily join hands to improve the skills of agricultural extension officers, strengthen the agricultural cooperative system, and connect cooperation between farmers and businesses responsibly.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and relevant agencies are urgently finalizing supplementary projects for the implementation of the Project, including technical infrastructure to support the implementation of the Project on sustainable development of one million hectares of high-quality low-emission rice monoculture in association with green growth in the Mekong Delta region.
The total investment requirement for the project is nearly VND11,800 billion (over US$472 million) with the total rice area in the project being 949,000 ha; the investment level ranges from $325-$794 a ha. This is a project to invest in intra-field water conservancy works, transportation connecting rice production areas, logistics functional areas serving the rice value chain, technology transfer activities, and field equipment procurement activities.
